With
an aim to sensitize farmers about environment friendly short duration PAU paddy
varieties, the University today launched an awareness campaign involving 300
demonstrations across villages in the Ludhiana district. A cavalcade of 8
pickup trucks carrying 300 seed bags of short duration paddy varieties
recommended by PAU was flagged off here today by the Director, Horticulture,
Punjab, Dr P.S. Aulakh and Director Extension Education, PAU, Dr J.S.
Mahal. Giving details about the campaign, Dr Jaswinder Bhalla, Head,
Department of Extension Education, said that PAU teams comprising extension
workers, soil scientists, agronomists, pathologists and entomologists along
with scientists of KVK, Samrala will distribute free paddy seed to farmers and
thereafter give live demonstrations from May 20 onwards
regarding benefits of sowing short duration paddy seed. Dr Bhalla
said that as a part of the drive, the farmers will be motivated to distribute
the seed of these varieties to fellow farmers in the next season. He also
revealed that since from the current year the paddy sowing and transplanting
date has been extended by the state government by five days (from May 15 to May 20 and June 15 to June 20 respectively),
the short duration paddy varieties PR 121, PR 122, PR 123,
PR 124, PR126, PR127 and others recommended by PAU are ideal for
sowing as compared to PUSA 44 which is long duration paddy variety with higher
water requirement and not suitable for sowing after June 20.
Besides, it leaves a small window period for the sowing of wheat as well as
affects its total yield in the oncoming Rabi season. Dr Mahal and Dr Aulakh
later released a folder on environment friendly practices for paddy
cultivation. The folder that has been jointly compiled by the Departments of
Extension Education and Plant Breeding will be distributed to the farmers
during the demonstration.